Opendatabot: Since the beginning of the full-scale war, 589 churches have transferred to the OCU from the Moscow Patriarchate

589 churches have joined the Orthodox Church of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

This is reported by the digital service for the analysis of state data "Opendatabot".

The patriarchate changed the most churches in Kyiv region — 138, Khmelnytskyi — 125, and Vinnytsia — 67.

However, 8,193 churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) continue to work in the country, 99% of them, or 8,119 churches, despite the requirements of the law, still have not indicated their affiliation to the Moscow Patriarchate in their name, in which case a note is added to the name forcibly

In almost two years, only 59 churches were forcibly given names showing their connection with the Russian Federation in the Unified State Register — all these renamings took place during the first year of the Great War. In 2023, not a single church received such a name in the EDR.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, only eight religious institutions have transferred to the OCU after receiving a forced name in the Unified State Register.

The largest number of churches connected with Russia remain in Donetsk region — 683, Vinnytsia region — 534, Dnipropetrovsk region — 527, Khmelnytskyi region — 506.

• On the eve of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, changes to the law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" entered into force. According to the new rules, the churches had to change their name in the Unified State Register so that it was clear that the organization belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate. Otherwise, such changes are made forcibly.
• On October 19, the Verkhovna Rada in the first reading supported draft law 8371 on banning the activities of religious organizations associated with the aggressor state.